What kind of traveler are you?

By Jorge Aragüez

Translated by Nyima Bieber

Traveling….does any other pleasure even compare? Yes, I suppose there are many, but nothing gives you so much experience and culture. No matter where, how and why, there are always things to learn and people to meet.

I have been lucky enough to travel a great deal, especially when I became an official migrant. I come and go, not just to see family but also for work. As the waits are long and the connections are many, the spare time allows you to observe everything around you, which in itself becomes an enriching practice.

This is how I learned that Argentineans travel in athletic shoes and the majority wear leather jackets. Americanstravel with large books, which tend to be by Stephen King, and they don’t stop reading until their eyes are weary and they fall asleep. Europeans tend to travel with little clothing, a backpack and travel guides for the country they are visiting; surely they do communicate with the locals but more out of coincidence than necessity; their books usually have it all.

In contrast, business or work travelers (they are not always on business) always fall within the same stereotype: small suitcase, laptop case that fits right over the handle of the small suitcase; lots of talking on the phone, they are almost always responding to emails, they always have the face of someone serious and important and rarely… they converse with those next to them. Sometimes work can be more productive in an airport or a waiting room than in our own offices.

There is one type of traveler that I learned to identify because I live in a tourist destination by the sea. That is the beach holiday traveler; always with a sun hat, colorful clothes and above all, a smile on their faces (very noticeable I would say). They appear calm, happy and as if this moment in the airport is the implementation of a long-planned dream.

This is why, for a long time now, I have enjoyed coming home. I live in a beautiful place: the beach. It is a place where many people come after saving up for a long time and where they will certainly plan to return. It is a dream to live here.

For these reasons I decided to live inVallarta, away from where I am from, and it seems that all those who accompany me on the return flight feel the same way. In Vallarta-Nayarityou enjoy a beautiful vacation, but mine is forever.